Healing Begins
by Dame Of Gondor
Summary: Peter Parker's Spidey-sense isn't working. But he doesn't need it, right? He can handle whatever is thrown at him. But what about a bully at school? Or a robbery? Or, better yet, what about running into your mentor? After sneaking into his tower? While being injured? Set in an AU after "End Game" in which everyone survives. Complete and will be multiple chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! **

**This story is set after End Game and is in an AU where everyone lived. Because I like that type of universe and both Peter and Tony deserved better. XD No offense to the actual movie, however.**

**But yes, I hope you like it! I will be updating every couple days. This will eventually be Irondad, but not quite yet. Either way, please enjoy!**

"That's all for today, class. You're free to go."

Ms. Warren's voice came over the rustle of many backpacks being stacked on the desks as the students got ready to get out of school. As Peter Parker slowly rose from his seat, bending over to pick up his gray backpack from underneath his chair, he heard his physics teacher again.

"Don't forget that your robot projects are due NEXT Wednesday. First and final due date!" The students grunted in response as they pushed past each other to get out the door.

A smile crept up Peter's face as he pulled his backpack over his shoulders. He was looking forward to the robot project. It was cool enough that Ms. Warren had shown them "Big Hero 6" as an example in class, and he had already done his part for his project by building a small replica of the robot, Baymax. It was going to be good. Ned was going to flip, and MJ might even say something beyond her snarky half compliments.

"Thanks, Ms. Warren," Peter called as he walked out the door, pausing to see the black-haired woman do a small wave and smile to award his politeness. Peter's smile widened as he turned to get to his locker down the hall. It would be a great weekend.

"Hey, dude!" Ned came up from behind him. Usually he was in physics, but today Peter's best friend had been working on a tutoring session with some middle schoolers. "Guess who was able to set another kid straight about 'Star Wars' versus 'Star Trek' today?"

"Oh boy," Peter shook his head as Ned took his spot next to him as they walked, "Don't tell me they mixed up Luke and Captain Kirk again."

"OH NO. It got worse. Some smart aleck kid argued with me for like ten minutes over how Bones and Han are the same people and how 'Star Trek: Beyond' is the awful sequel to 'The Last Jedi.' Even though the movies came out years apart." Ned groaned as he rubbed his forehead.

Peter laughed at his friend's dismay as he got to his locker. "They really are messed up these days, aren't they? Is that why they asked you to help tutor? To set them straight?" Peter teased as he set his books on the shelf of his locker.

"Yeah, I suppose so-Woah! When did that happen?" Ned said and pointed to a picture hung on the back of Peter's locker door.

Peter glanced up and felt a warmth in his chest. He had a picture taped on his locker of Tony, Steve, Sam, Bucky and himself all together while sitting on Tony's couch. Steve had one arm around Tony's shoulder and another around Bucky, with his leg across his knee and a smile on his lips. Bucky and Sam were on the right side of the picture, both smoldering at the camera. Sam was leaning forward toward the camera and Bucky was more back, his head arched upwards with his one arm around Steve and the other perched on Sam's shoulder. They had both been cracking jokes and arguing over who Steve liked better while mimicking each other all that day and that attitude was clearly shown through their copies of each other's pose.

Peter's favorite part of the photo, however, was the left side of the photo, where Mr. Stark and he were seated. Tony had one arm around Steve's muscular shoulders and the other was around Peter, his hand atop the curls on Peter's head. Tony's wide smile seemed to light up the photo and Peter was so glad Pepper had captured Tony mid laugh. Peter himself wasn't looking at the camera, but was laughing at Bucky and Sam, with an arm around Tony's shoulders.

Peter's face broke into a huge grin. Yes, that had been a good day. He had been with his childhood heroes all day, laughed until his sides hurt, had Sam and Bucky mercilessly tease him all day (which secretly he enjoyed, if he was being honest) and teamed up with them at the end of the day to take down a gang fight that had broken out in downtown Brooklyn. Afterwards Mr. Stark had taken them out to Dairy Queen and they talked over the fight and had a great time.

"Pepper took that picture a month back. I got around to printing it off a week or two ago," Peter said. "It was a fun day and I got to spend it with the guys."

Ned made an excited squeal and pushed Peter's shoulder. "Dude, that is so cool! Just think, you got the best superheroes in your corner, fighting beside you and hey," he pointed at the picture, "best references ever for job applications!"

Peter laughed and began to shoot back a reply when the locker door was shut with an abrupt BANG. Peter and Ned both jumped backwards as the face of Carl King, an awful bully, came into view from behind the now closed locker door. His smug grin just got bigger as he saw the two teen's shocked faces.

"Talking about your 'internship' again, Parker?" Carl let out a low laugh, "I'm not too surprised since you got nothing better to do with your life. Maybe if you keep talking about it, it'll become a reality."

Peter sighed and pulled his backpack up further on his shoulder. "It's not fake, for the last time, King."

"That's what you always say. You're so stupid." Carl said. Peter and Ned both turned their backs on him and walked down the school hallway towards the front doors. "He'll leave us alone in a moment," Ned muttered to Peter.

But Carl had other ideas. He ran ahead so that he was right in front of Peter, forcing him to come to a stop towards the end of the hall. "Why you walking away, Parker? No good excuses this time?"

"Why are you on this today? I've got a project to work on and I bet you do too," Peter said and shot a glare at the blonde boy.

"Oh, that's the point. I DO have a project to work on and I don't want YOU getting in the way," Carl stepped closer to Peter with every syllable.

Peter frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I know you have some 'super secret plans' that will probably blow us all away at the fair and I can't have that happen again!" Carl was now right in Peter's face and pushed Peter's chest with his right hand. Peter moved backwards a few steps, surprised by the sudden movement. "You have no reason to be doing this well and you're just a little wannabe with your so-called heroes." Carl was now really close to Peter again and his face was portraying a fury not one of them had ever seen before.

"Carl, hey! You need to chill!" Ned said as he ran up to get between the two of them, "What's wrong with you, man?"

Carl glared at Ned and pushed him away from him, "Back off, loser. You're not included in this," Peter quickly put his hand on Ned's shoulder and moved towards the doors. "Ned, it's fine. Let's just go."

Carl coughed out a bitter laugh. He stood behind them and crossed his arms over his chest, "Go? Go where? You running away, Parker?"

Peter closed his eyes but kept walking. Little farther, we're almost to the door.

Carl once again ran up to be right in front of Peter and stopped him in his tracks. He put both of his hands on Peter's shoulders and pushed. Peter stumbled backwards as Carl said, "You're such a wimp. No wonder you gotta make up stories to make your life interesting."

Peter looked at him with a sharp glare and pulled his backpack up higher on his shoulder, saying, "I don't want to fight you, Carl"

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to fight me either" A small, malicious grin appeared on Carl's face. He walked closer to Peter and Peter, guessing his intentions, quickly moved to side. "What's wrong, Peetie? You scared?" Carl ran up to him and threw a punch, which Peter dodged easily.

Peter looked around and saw the stairs behind him. He quickly tried to move to the wall, but suddenly, Carl was on him and before Peter could move aside fully, Carl pushed his shoulders as hard as he could and sent the super teenager flying down the stairs, face first.

WHUMP

CRACK

"PETER-"

Peter was barely aware of Ned's shout as searing pain went through his face and nose as he hit the bottom of the stairs and laid on the floor in front of the entrance doors. Ned yelped and ran down and bent next to his friend.

Ned's head snapped to Carl and said angrily, "What did you just do? You might've killed him!"

Carl, for his part, looked suddenly very pale. He glanced at Ned and said, "Hey-hey, he's probably fine. I just wanted to threaten him, that's all."

"You could've done that without pushing him!" Ned raged, "He's not even moving, you little-"

Peter groaned and Ned looked back at him. Peter slowly moved his head up so he could see what he was around. He then suppressed another groan when the first thing he saw the sign above the front doors that read, "WELCOME TO MIDTOWN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SCHOOL. WE ARE SO GLAD YOU ARE HERE".

"I'm okay, Ned." Peter propped himself up on his shoulder and rolled over so that he was sitting upright. He rubbed his face and looked over at his best friend. "I just hit the ground a little rough, that's all."

Ned made a face. "Dude, your eye looks real bad."

"What?"

Ned pointed to Peter's left side of his face. Peter suddenly became aware of a stinging pain on his face and reached up his hand to touch his eye. It felt puffy. Eyes shouldn't be puffy.

"Carl, what in the name of-" Peter turned to look at the bully, but instead found an empty hallway. "Dang, he must have run."

"He's a coward! And a jerk!" Ned yelled as he helped Peter to his feet, "we need to get you to the nurses office,"

"No, nonono, I'm fine. I have super healing, remember?" Peter said as he steadied himself, putting his hand on Ned's shoulder. "My eye will heal up quickly."

"Yeah, but it's not just your eye, but your nose and-"

"I'll be fine! I barely feel it." Peter said, though he did, indeed, feel pain shooting through his face. "C'mon, let's go to your house." He headed for the door which he had been trying so hard to get to for the last few minutes.

Ned hesitated for a moment before following. "If you're sure. I don't want to be held accountable by Mister Stark if you're seriously hurt or something," he joked and walked up beside Peter.

"Nah, you're off the hook," Peter grinned as they stepped outside. "I'll be fine and besides, if the healing takes too long, I'm not planning on seeing him for a few days now."

"Mission?" Ned asked.

"Pepper's parents' anniversary. So, scarier than an actual mission." Peter said and they quickly made their way to the Leeds house.

**Thanks for reading! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the follows and favorites! Reviews are always welcome and I hope you enjoy this chapter. I loved writing it. :)**

Spider-Man was not on his game tonight.

After Peter spent about three hours at Ned's house, making lego sets and watching Netflix, he had to leave for Spidey patrol, as Clint nicknamed it. After saying goodbye to Ned for the day, he put on his suit and went out to do his duties as the town's friendly neighborhood spider.

At least that's what, in theory, he was trying to do. But his face was killing him. He had seen himself in a mirror at Ned's house when he first came and saw the unnatural red and purple color of a bruise forming all around his left eye. It was... large, to say the least. The swelling had gone down, and yet even when he left to do the patrol, he still had the nasty mark from Carl's outburst. His nose was thankfully not broken, but it was fairly bruised.

Despite the pain, he did pretty well swinging from building to building. His spidey sense appeared to be working fine, but a question kept nagging at the back of his mind, why hadn't he been quick enough? Peter knew why he hadn't fought Carl. He didn't want to accidentally hurt him, despite everything. But Peter could dodge punches and yet today he... just couldn't.

This became remarkably clear while on patrol.

From small things, like accidentally bumping into a rather large tree branch while swinging over central park, to larger issues, such as a poorly thought through plan he tried to attempt when stopping a car crash. As he tried to web up a truck, he misjudged where to put his feet, and almost fell off the ledge of a building, with his web still attached to the truck. Thankfully he readjusted his footing BARELY in time and pulled the truck out of the way before it hit another car.

After the truck incident, not much happened that night in the almost three hours Peter stayed out. Right before he was about to call it a night, Karen informed him that a robbery was taking place in the large, family-owned bank downtown. Peter whooped when he got the message and quickly swung downtown. When he reached the bank, he snuck in the back door.

"Okay, Karen, what we got?" Peter asked quietly crouched down behind the bank counter and glanced around the corner of the stand.

"There appear to be three men beside the vault behind you. Two of them have loaded guns and the last one is trying to break into the steel vault, situated down the hall to your left." Karen's calm tone didn't match the seriousness of the situation, but Peter didn't mind.

"Alright, alright, sounds great! Let's do this," Peter whispered as he slowly backed out from behind the counter and made his way to the steel vault on his hands and knees. This was going to be easy, in theory. He had already stopped multiple bank robbers in his time. He had this.

"Peter, if I may remind you, you still have a rather large bruise on your eye and nose. Refrain from getting hit in those areas, please. Otherwise you may suffer more damage." Karen said and her voice caused Peter to jump slightly during his crawling. He regained his balance and leaned against the corner of a wall which came right before the vault. "Yeah, I will. Thanks," Peter nodded his head and crouched and looked around the corner.

The robbers were so focused on the opening the huge circular door that they weren't even looking behind them. Perfect. Peter slowly climbed up the wall beside him and after he reached the ceiling, he waited.

"Aw yeah, it's almost open, Mikey." A rather large man holding one of the guns (looked like a shotgun but much more advanced, Peter noted) said to the smaller, yet muscular man who was trying to get the vault's lock open by using a metallic looking pen on the keyhole.

"Yeah, yeah, you're right, Jerick. But I only got a couple more locks to go through, so ya'll can shut up" the one on the floor, "Mikey", replied to the big man. The two men who were standing grumbled under their breath and shifted from foot to foot, hands still tight on the guns.

Okay, time to make my move, Peter thought and slowly crawled on the ceiling, until he was above Jerick, the tallest of the three. Poor guy, Peter thought as he looked at the other man who was holding a gun with amusement, don't know his name. I'll call him Fidget.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt your perfectly timed robbery, but-" Peter said as he grabbed onto the ceiling with his hands and swung his legs out so that they hit Jerick in the face, resulting in the large man losing his footing and falling to the ground. Fidget yelped and tried to aim his gun at Peter, but Peter flipped off the ceiling and aimed his web shooter at the gun, "let's not use that thing here, please." Peter's aim was off, but the web was still able to attach to the hand of Fidget and stop him from pulling the trigger. That works, Peter thought halfheartedly. He had been aiming for the barrel of the gun, but that was still effective.

Jerick ran at Peter with a shout (a poor strategy, truly) and Peter turned around, shooting several large webs at the man. Jerick fell backward into the wall due to the force of all the webs and found himself trapped and stuck on the wall. "HEY, HELP ME HERE!" Jerick yelled at Mikey, who was still working with the lock and trying to ignore the fight behind him.

"No way, man! I've nearly got this open. This tech has to work, it's the best-" Mikey started but then got silenced as Peter, after getting Fidget stuck to the wall by some better timed webs, grabbed the gun from Fidget and knocked Mikey over the head with the butt of the large gun.

"Sorry, dude." Peter apologized. He dropped the gun and dragged Mikey over to the wall across from the huge vault door, away from the other men and especially away from the vault. "Okay, fellas. The police will be here in a few minutes, so I'll just take your weapons and be on my way. Thanks for your participation, guys! I really appreciate it." Peter said as he came over to grab the two guns and the strange pen-metallic-technology thingy Mikey had been using.

Fidget and Jerick started spouting out words that would've made Captain Rogers so disappointed in them both, as Peter picked up one of the huge guns. He put both guns underneath his left arm and reached down to grab the pen Mikey had been using. "Now where did you get this thing?" Peter muttered to himself and turned over the pen between the fingers. The Stark Industries logo was printed on the back.

Peter frowned. A weapon like this was never supposed to be used. Or even shown to the public. He put down the pen and looked at the guns. Stark Industries was printed on both as well. "Where did you get these?" Peter turned to look at Fidget and Jerick who were both glaring at him.

"Are you dumb? We got them from your good ol' buddy Tony Stark's company." Fidget spat out. "Fancy truck came out of that new building of his and they're ours now".

Jerick gaped. "You idiot! Shut your big fat-"

"Thanks, I got what I needed." Peter picked up the guns again and, after finding the shoulder straps, stuck them on his back, "Well, these weapons are going back to where they belong. Have fun in jail, bad guys." Peter grabbed the pen off of the ground and walked past the teller's counter and out of the back door again.

Peter hesitated once he got into the alleyway outside of the bank building. He rubbed his sore nose as he thought. He could probably just ship these to Stark Industries. But... he hadn't been to the Avenger's building in a while. These weapons might cause issues. And since Mr. Stark was out of town, he could just get into Avengers Headquarters with his own keycard and then leave as quickly as he arrived.

Yeah, he'd do that. He still had half an hour left for his patrol. It'd be fine.

Ignoring the tingling in his face, Peter shot a web onto the roof of a nearby building and started off to his mentor's new building.

**I love writing action. XD Short chapter, but the next chapter will be longer. Thanks for reading! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you all for your follows and favorites! I really, really loved writing this chapter and I hope you like it! And maybe. Juuuusssst maybe Tony Stark is making an appearance. XD Please enjoy!**

The floors of Avenger's headquarters felt colder than usual as Peter's feet reached the tiles. He had just opened a window on the fourth floor and shimmied himself into the hallway. He proceeded to look to his right and then to his left, making sure that, even at 9'o clock at night, there were no guards around. He had a feeling Mr. Stark's security would be none too pleased with Spider-man dropping in unexpectedly while their boss was gone.

Seeing no security guards - or anyone, really. It was kind of spooky - Peter slowly tiptoed his way down the dark hallway. Having been to the tower more times than he could count at this point, he knew exactly where the small number of weapons were kept, and where to put them so it wouldn't be too conspicuous that they had been returned.

Mr. Stark hated weapons. Peter knew this, especially after studying Mr. Stark and his company for several of his own school projects and now with working with the avengers. Stark didn't have his company release as many (if any at all) weapons as his father ever did. But he had a few prototypes made for Shield, since Fury was trying to rebuild it. The fact that Peter found some at all made him wonder if something more sinister was at work.

Peter shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts and instead inched his way along the walls until he reached a big gray door. "Okay. Which code is it?" he muttered as he looked at the screen beside the door. Peter took a couple minutes to think before punching in a set of numbers on the keyboard. The door slid open with a satisfying swish and Peter smiled as he saw boxes piled up in the room. "Awesome!" Peter whispered to himself and slowly walked into the large room. He looked over the boxes for a moment and spotted a metal one that said "Shotgun prototypes."

Peter pulled open the latch on the box and looked down at the guns inside. They looked exactly like the ones he had slung on his back. Great! Peter let out a sigh of relief as he started to stack the huge guns neatly on top of one another. After that was done, he took out the strange metal pen from a pocket (which Mr. Stark had very kindly installed into his suit) on his left suit leg and turned it over in his hand.

"Now you don't really seem to fit in any specific category," Peter muttered and scanned the boxes once again.

Two large metal boxes sat on the very top of a shelf on the left wall. Written on them was the words "Previously Used Shield Rifles". Definitely not.

A tiny, metal box laid on a lower shelf to the right of Peter, so assuming that was the right one, he began to walk towards it when he saw the label: "Microbots". WHAT. Oh, he was so totally going to ask Mr. Stark about that when they were together next. The grin that spread across his face hurt his bruise, but who cares? Microbots are real!

Peter shook himself out of his excitement and after feeling his face twinge with pain, he glanced around again. A medium sized cardboard box sat on the floor behind a few metal boxes, so Peter carefully stepped over the boxes that were in the way and crouched down to read what was written on it. "Cap's different colored spandex for fashion's sake" was written in big, bold letters with a black permanent marker. Peter smirked as he recognized the hand-writing. Mr. Stark loved to mess with Steve.

"Well-" Peter said as he twirled the pen around in his right hand, promptly dropping it, "I guess you'll just have to wait." he stooped to pick up the pen and frowned. He could just spend the rest of this evening here looking, but he had homework and maybe, if he got home now, he could get to sleep earlier, which is something May always wanted for him. So, Peter stuck the pen back into his pocket and once again stepped over the boxes as he made to make his way toward the still open door.

Once he reached the doorway, he pressed "Close" on the pad on the side of the door and, smiling, turned on his heel, strolling back the way he came.

"Hey, Underoos. How's it going tonight?"

WHAT

Peter froze mid-step and ever so carefully turned around. There is no way- Peter thought, but his mind went blank as he turned around and found the one and only Tony Stark standing just a few feet away from him, casually swiping up on his Stark Industries phone. He was wearing a long-sleeved blue blazer, a white T-shirt underneath and dark jeans. He had on some sunglasses with blue lens in and, while his eyes were fixed on his phone, he glanced up at the super teenager, offering a small smile in greeting.

"Mr-Mr Stark!" Peter gaped from underneath his mask. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know, just minding my own business in my own home," Tony said, his eyes on his phone once again, "I figured since I've been gone for a few days, I might as well wander about. Make sure no one stole any of my memorabilia or anything. Not that I would notice, I probably should declutter anyway." The millionaire chuckled at his own joke and casually strolled forward a couple steps.

"Weren't you-" Peter said, "weren't you gonna be at Pepper's parents' house this whole week?"

"I was," as Mr. Stark responded, he stopped walking and used his index finger to press something on the screen of his phone, "but we finished up our activities already, and I missed good ol' NYC, so here I am." Tony said as he let out a sigh, his eyes still focused on his phone.

Peter eyes widened and his bruise on his face seemed to burn. "Oh. I mean- that's great," Thoughts kept rushing through his mind. So, he was home quicker than he expected, which, to be honest, was great! But… Peter had no doubt in his mind that his mentor would not be happy if he knew that his prodigy had gotten hurt by a bully at school.

And, you know, that his super healing wasn't working.

And that weapons had been stolen. Weapons he hated.

Great. Well, only one option.

"Well, I do need to be on my way," Peter said. "I'm sure you have a lot of catching up to do here, so I can just-"

"Actually, not really," Tony interrupted Peter's ramblings and turned off his phone, putting it in his back pocket and looked up to meet Peter's eyes. Tony then started walking toward him again, causing Peter to take a couple steps back which Tony didn't seem to notice. He started looking around the hallway instead. "When I arrived, which, by the way, was only five minutes ago, I noticed that there was a breach in security on this floor and, after asking FRIDAY, I figured out that, what do you know, but our very own Spiderling is sneaking in to do-" Tony stopped walking and scratched his head, looking up at Peter and frowning "To do- what were you doing here, Pete?"

"Oh, you know, just… Hero stuff. I was just looking around the tower to get acquainted with the feel and everything," Peter said and took a few more steps back, "But I really should be going, Mr. Stark. I have stuff I need to do this weekend, so a head start wouldn't be bad." Peter let out a laugh that sounded more like a cough.

"Oh?" Tony kept walking towards him, and Peter continued to shuffle backwards, "So what kind of stuff do you have? I mean, if it could wait, you do have a room here. I can wash that suit of yours-"

"No!" Peter yelped. Tony stopped in his tracks and raised an eyebrow. "I mean," Peter continued, "you really, REALLY don't have to do that, Mr. Stark. I'll... just head home and work on my stuff. I can see you later," Peter smiled a little, then realized that Tony couldn't see it.

Tony's eyes narrowed. Yup. Not convinced.

"Kid, what's up?"

"What-what do you mean?"

"You've never, ever -since the incident in space-" Peter and Tony both visibly flinched as Tony said those words, but he continued, "-given up an opportunity to stay here and spend time with your favorite superhero. And of course, the rest of my team," Tony waved his hand carelessly and Peter felt his already hot face blush, "so the fact that you aren't taking me up on this offer is frankly very odd for you," Tony resumed walking towards the boy, a little quicker this time, "also," Tony said, "what's wrong with the suit? You're filthy. Maybe take off your mask so-"

"Oh no, nonono, Mr. Stark," Peter jumped back, startling Tony, "Nothing is going on! I'm fine, I'm good, not hurt at all and I'll just be on my way and I'll just go-" the words stopped coming out of Peter's mouth and, as Tony opened his mouth to speak again, Peter turned around, and sprinted down the hallway.

Peter heard Tony shout something as he ran, but he was too focused on getting away to care. Fourth Window from the first, fourth window from the first Peter thought as he ran, the toes of his suit hitting the cold ground and his chest retracting with every step he took. Almost there, almost there Peter took a corner a little too fast and almost fell into another widow, but regained balance and kept sprinting towards the window he had come in. It was still partially opened. Perfect.

Peter slowed down and glanced behind him. No one was following him. He felt a slight pang of guilt as he thought about how he had responded to Tony. He knew that his mentor would care, but he didn't want to worry him, and he probably has enough on his plate already.

A rush of engines sounded from in front of Peter and he skidded to a halt as a suit of armor hovered, blocking him from the open window. Peter immediately recognized the familiar red and gold coloring and he swore his heart stopped as it raised a hand at him. "Whoa, whoa-" Peter raised both hands as the suit lowered its feet to the ground, "I don't think there's really a need for that, Mr-"

"Um, actually, I'm not in the suit," Tony's voice came from behind him and Peter froze. When Peter's feet decided to work again, he spun around. Tony was walking towards him with an unamused expression on his face.

"Oh." Peter said.

'Yeah," Tony replied, he took the blue glasses off and kept walking. "I'm not going to waste precious time getting into that suit while you, spiderling, are trying to escape for some-" As Tony got about three feet from his intern, Peter started to back up, "-confusing reason."

Peter felt his back hit the chest plate of the suit of armor. He flinched and looked up, immediately startled as Tony walked right up to him, his face just mere inches from his own. Tony's eyes shown with dead seriousness, but also a flash of concern and Peter felt even more guilt start to build up.

"What's going on?" Tony asked. Peter didn't say anything, trying to figure out how he could word what he was thinking, when Tony spoke again, "Peter, take off the mask."

"Mr. Stark, I don't think I can."

"And pray, why not?"

"I-I just can't." Peter turned his face to his right and suddenly became very interested in the wall.

Tony didn't say anything. Peter knew that probably wasn't a good sign, but he couldn't look at him again. He knew he was just making him more frustrated. And digging himself a deeper hole.

Tony spoke again, in a softer voice this time, "Pete, look at me."

Peter hesitated, but felt a gentle, yet firm hand slide underneath his chin. Tony slowly tilted Peter's head towards him. Peter's eyes widened, but he said nothing as Tony silently studied his mask for a moment. Then, without so much as a warning, Tony placed both hands right above Peter's neck, where the mask met his suit, and tugged the mask off his head.

Peter felt the tight spandex go over his head and squeezed his eyes shut as the material ran over his bruise. Yep, still sore. Peter opened his eyes slowly and they opened even wider as they met Tony's dark brown eyes. They stayed fixed on each other for a moment, then Tony blinked and looked at the side of Peter's face.

Tony's face went from curious to concerned in a split second. His hands, which had been holding on to Peter's mask, quickly put the mask into his blazer's pocket and put a hand on either side of Peter's face. He flinched as Tony tilted his head so that he could get a better look at the bruise.

"What happened to you? This looks pretty recent," Tony asked.

"I fell." Peter said lamely.

Tony didn't respond. His thumb lingered on the skin beside Peter's bruise. "It looks a bit more serious than a fall, kid. Your super healing should also be kicking in," Tony said and continued to study the bruise. His thumb rubbed against the skin for a split second and then he pulled his hands away from Peter's face. "Alright, come on," Tony jerked his head behind him.

"What?" Peter looked at his mentor with wide eyes.

"You need some attention given to that bruise," Tony said and moved over to stand beside Peter, who turned his head to look at him, flinching at the pain shooting through his face. "And, while Pepper disagrees, I can sometimes be helpful." A small smirk appeared on Tony's face and he clapped his arm around Peter's shoulder (much like in the photo in Peter's locker) and led him away from the suit of armor.

Peter stumbled over his own feet as Tony started to walk, but Tony's arms caught him and pulled him back up. "Careful there," Tony muttered. Not in an annoyed tone, Peter noticed, but it sounded almost comforting. Tony helped Peter get back up and then continued walking, but at a slower pace this time. Peter said nothing, and neither did Tony, but the silence wasn't uncomfortable. He was suddenly very aware of their footsteps echoing in the hallway and the noise of the suit of armor revving up and rising from the ground behind him.

When they reached an elevator at the end of the hall, Tony pressed the "Down" button beside the elevator doors and released Peter's shoulders.

"Where are we going?" Peter said and turned to look at his mentor. Tony had his hands in his pants pockets and bounced up and down on his heels as he looked at the elevator.

"I'm taking you to the lab," Tony answered matter-factly. "I got some supplies that should be able to help you heal," He turned to Peter, who was still staring at him. Tony glanced down and said, "I don't want you hurting."

"Oh. Okay, then," Peter smiled and turned to look back at the elevator as the doors opened. "Onward we go," Tony said and dramatically swung his arm in front of him as Peter stepped through the doors.

Tony followed him and after walking in behind Peter, he pressed the button for the basement and stood beside his intern. Peter looked at Tony as he put his hands in his jean pockets. Tony turned his head and smiled at him. Peter smiled back and turned back to look at the doors as he waited for them to reach the lab floor.

**Heheheh. I love writing Tony. Thanks for reading! Will update with the next chapter in a couple days. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you all so much for the follows and favorites! I hope you enjoy this chapter! It'll explain somewhat more of why Peter doesn't ask for help. And what on earth is happening with his powers. XD I also just love writing Tony. Please enjoy. Reviews are welcome!**

"Stop squeaking."

"Maybe make your healing concoction sting less, than," retorted the super teenager.

Tony smirked and turned his head towards Peter, who was sitting in a swivel chair beside one of the many work tables. Peter was pressing a gel pack against his bruised face and was anxiously swinging the chair around, making a squeaking noise every time it spun. Tony, after giving Peter the gel packet, had gone to look up some more medical procedures on one of his many computer screens and Peter felt himself getting antsy as he held the cold, tingling pack against his sore eye.

"That stinging is supposed to be helping you, kid," Tony said and straightened up from where he had been leaning over to see the keyboard. He stretched out his back and turned completely around to look at Peter.

Peter put the gel pack down and squinted at his mentor. Tony had taken off his blazer and was in his white T-shirt which he had been wearing underneath. Peter was still in his Spider-Man suit and was feeling itchy from the spandex and the sweat he had built up during his earlier fight in the bank.

"Where did you get this healing pack from?" Peter asked as Tony leaned back against the table again, crossing one foot over the other.

"Bruce and Strange made it together. It was meant to help those with super enhanced abilities, mainly super strength. They decided to mix up a formula after good ol' Bucky got into a bad fight a few months ago with that wannabe Nazi in France," Tony said as he crossed his arms, "After the brewing session, they gave it to Bucky in a zip lock bag. It melted the bag, but the liquid helped heal his bruises." Tony smiled, "Brucie and the wizard tweaked it a bit more and so far, it's helped Steve, Bucky and Thor with their bruises and injuries. I figured it should help you too." He uncrossed his arms and put his hands in his pockets.

"Oh. Well that was nice of them," Peter said and smiled as he placed the gel packet back on his eye, winching as he put a little more force then he meant behind that movement. "It feels like it's working. Besides the stinging," Peter shrugged and relaxed in the chair.

Tony nodded and looked down for a moment, apparently in thought. He then straightened up and walked over to Peter. He pulled out another swivel chair from underneath a nearby desk and scooched the chair up beside the teenager. "So, underoos," Tony placed both hands behind his head and looked at Peter, who turned his head to meet Tony's eyes, "do you now feel like telling me how you really got those nasty bruises on your face?"

"I-I told you, Mr. Stark, I fell." Peter glanced away from his mentor's face and held the gel pack closer to his face. "I just tripped and fell down some stairs."

"On your way to stop the robbery?"

Peter gaped. "How did you-"

"I asked FRIDAY to go through your recordings in your suit. You stopped some robbery, huh?"

"Um, yeah, yeah, I did," Peter nodded, wondering just how much Tony saw on the recordings.

Tony put his hands down. "So, you got hurt from the robbery?"

"No-yes," Peter said and quickly tried to fix his slip up.

Tony cocked one eyebrow. "No-yes? It wasn't from the attempted robbery?" Peter glanced away from his mentor. Tony let out a sharp laugh and leaned over, tapping Peter's knee with his index finger. Peter looked back at him. "You're a terrible liar, Parker." Tony said with a smirk. Peter groaned and put the gel pack over both his eyes.

Tony chuckled and tapped his prodigy's knee again. "Hey. I just want to know." Peter moved the gel packet off his one eye and looked at Mr. Stark. He had a small smile on his face, but his brown eyes still shone with concern. They locked eyes again and Tony coughed and looked at the desk across the room.

Peter, in turn, looked at the floor. He knew his mentor was trying to be more sensitive and empathetic, especially after what had happened with Thanos (was that truly only a few months ago?), but Tony still struggled with expressing his emotions. Or, in most cases, getting Peter to express his own.

Peter sighed. Well, might as well help him. Make life slightly easier. And it may help this relationship. Their relationship.

"It happened at school today," Peter said and moved the gel pack off his eye.

Tony's head shot back up, and he looked intently at Peter. "So, you tripped?"

"Er, in a way."

Tony raised one eyebrow. Peter nervously shifted his weight in the chair. "Okay," Peter said, "I actually got pushed down some stairs in the front of the school."

Tony straightened up in his chair immediately and said, "What? Someone PUSHED you?"

"I didn't really say THAT-" Peter tried to back up but gave up, "but okay, yeah, someone did push me."

Tony frowned and ran his hand through is usually perfect hair. "Who pushed you?" he asked and quickly shot Peter a hard look, "was it that Flash kid? I warned him last time-"

"Oh no, no, no. It wasn't Flash. It was some other guy. Another bully." Peter replied.

Tony frowned. "How many bullies do you got, kid?"

Peter glared at his mentor. "What kind of question is that?"

"Apparently a valid one!"

"Two. Last I checked." Peter said, still glaring.

"What's his name? I'll give him a talk or more if that's what-" Tony said and started to get up from his chair.

"No! Oh nonono," Peter yelped and looked at Tony, "he's already mad at me because I'm beating him in our classes. If Iron Man got on his back," Peter shook his head, "I would never hear the last of it."

Tony looked at Peter with his brow furrowed. "Peter, you can't just let this guy push you around. Why don't you protect yourself?" Tony said and sat back down, pushing his chair closer to Peter.

Peter sighed. "I tried. I-I couldn't tell when he was going to hit me. Even with my spider sense. Something has been off today."

"Having trouble with your spidey sense would explain that, yeah," Tony agreed and his eyes searched Peter's face. "Has it been like this all week?"

"No, just today."

A look of realization came over Tony's face. He said, "Is that why you were sneaking into my old equipment department? Looking for a cure?"

"OH. No, ha," Peter let out a breathy laugh and looked away from Tony, "Actually, why I did that was for a completely different… set of reasons."

Tony leaned back in his chair and ran his hand over his eyes. He sighed and Peter shifted in his chair.

"…. The robbers in the bank today," Peter said, and Tony looked at him, his hand over his mouth, "and they had these weapons. The one guy had a metal pen and he was using it to try to break into the vault and it looked like it was working! The other guys had these huge guns and they were guarding the dude with the pen. I took them out, but then I picked up the weapons, you know, so I could know where to put them, and they looked real nice and-" Peter took a breath and glanced at Tony, who was now smirking at him.

"Now your energy comes back. Good. You had me worried for a moment, kid." Tony said.

Peter felt the heat rush to his face. "Anyway, I got the weapons and looked to see where they came from and… Well, they said 'Stark Industries' on them." Tony frowned as he said that. Peter continued, "So I decided to try to return them to the facility instead of letting someone else get their hands on them."

Tony said nothing. Peter shifted in his chair and stared at his mentor, searching for some sort of reaction. Tony looked at the ground and slowly began to nod his head. He nodded it a bit faster and said, "you did the right thing. Bringing them back. The press would've had a field day if the police had found them."

Peter's shoulders slumped in relief. Tony looked up at him and said, "Did they say how they got them?"

Peter nodded, "They said they stole them from a truck coming out from your building." Tony hummed and mused, "Not surprising. I wonder why I hadn't heard about it," Tony frowned and shook his head. "either way, they're back safely, right?"

"Well, not all of them yet," Peter put his gel pack down on his knee and reached into his pocket, bring out the metal pen. "I didn't know where this guy went," Peter said sheepishly and held out the pen to Tony.

Tony reached out and took the pen. He twirled it around slowly in his hand. "I remember this. It was made as a prototype of an electronic key. Essentially," Tony held out his wrist where he was wearing his Stark watch, "It was an earlier prototype of the tech we have now so we can easily gain access to the doors by just wearing a watch or sunglasses," Tony smirked and put his arm down. "I'll keep this one down here," he got up and walked over to his desk, placing the pen down.

Peter frowned. "Since it's an early prototype, what was it doing in the truck?"

"Who knows," Tony shrugged, his back still to Peter. "Might have accidentally been left in with the other tools. Good thing it's back now." Tony took a screwdriver that was on the side of his desk and started to prod at the pen. "I might be able to use some of the parts for something else."

Peter looked at his mentor's back as he leaned over the desk. Then he got up and walked over so he was standing right next to Tony. Peter leaned over Tony's shoulder and Tony glanced at him as Peter's chin rested on his upper arm. "Whatcha going to do with it, Mr. Stark? You could use it for a new suit, or for a new gauntlet, or even a new robot!" Peter said as Tony carefully took the pen apart.

Tony chuckled. "New robot, huh?"

Peter nodded excitedly. A thought then crossed his mind and his eyes widened, "Oh! I didn't know you had microbots! Did you make them?" Peter moved so that he was no longer leaning on Tony and excitedly waved his hands, "I saw them in the storage room, and I couldn't believe they were real! I mean, I've seen crazy stuff, like space and nanobots and talking racoons and aliens, but Big Hero Six is so cool and microbots are amazing and I can't believe your company has them."

Tony turned to look at Peter and watched him bounce up and down, looking as excited as a kid on Christmas. Tony shook his head, but a smile was creeping onto his lips. "I thought I told you that. You never listen to me, so no wonder you don't remember," Tony whacked Peter's head with the butt of his screwdriver playfully. Peter yelped and put his hand on his head.

"I'm still healing you know!" Peter said, rolling his eyes. "When did you create microbots?"

Tony smirked and said, "I made them a few months before 'Big Hero Six' came out. I got an early screening, because of Happy." Peter's eyes became even bigger than before and Tony put up his hand. "Yes, Happy wanted to see the movie, but don't tell him I told you or he may just let the assassins take me and you both." Peter laughed and Tony grinned, shaking his head. "Anyway, I saw the movie and I figured that microbots wouldn't be that hard to make, And they're not. Especially compared to nanobots."

"Can you show me them? I mean, if you don't mind, Mr. Stark," Peter rambled and Tony just turned to look at him, "I know you're busy and you've made tons of robots and things before, but it kind of relates to my school project, which you did also help me with-" Tony, having walked over to the other desk where they had been sitting, picked up the gel pack and tossed it at Peter. Peter caught it, stopped talking, and raised an eyebrow at his mentor, who just smiled at him.

"Put this on your face, Pete, before your rambling causes more bruising," Tony chuckled as Peter rolled his eyes and put the gel pack beside him on the desk. Tony continued, "I was very impressed by your Baymax replica, by the way. If you don't get full credit on that, I'll sue the school." Peter laughed and shook his head.

"Nah, they'll take away your picture in the lab if you do that," Peter said, and Tony laughed. "Besides, maybe seeing the microbots will give me a better idea for my presentation next Wednesday," Peter hinted and flashed a big smile at Tony.

Tony, still smiling, shook his head and walked over to Pete, saying, "Not tonight. I think you should be getting to bed, spidey," Tony ruffled Peter's hair as Peter's smile faded slightly.

"But Mr. Stark, I'm not tired! I'm awake and I feel just fine! Besides, it's not that late," Peter paused briefly, looking at Tony, who raised an eyebrow at his last comment. "…. Is it that late, Mr. Stark?"

Tony glanced at his watch, "11:00."

"WHAT! May is going to kill me!" Peter yelped and started to pull out his phone from his suit's pocket.

"When is your curfew? I may have set it, but I forgot," Tony said, smirking, "10:00?"

"10:00, 10:30 at the latest! She's going to be so mad," Peter frankly tried to unlock his phone, which wasn't recognizing his thumbprint.

"Wow, that early? Huh," Tony mused aloud, but then, seeing Peter's panic as he tried to open his phone, he said, "She'll be okay, kid. I told her you were here when we got down to the lab."

Peter paused unlocking his phone, "What?"

"I told her you were here. I figured you'd be staying the night, since it's the weekend and I'm home early." Tony said and Peter's shoulders immediately slumped as he let out a big breath.

"Oh, thank you," Peter put his phone back in his pocket and ran his hand over his face. His eyes then widened with realization and he look at Tony, who had his hands in his pockets and was leaning against the desk. "Wait, so I'm staying over?"

"Uh, yeah. Unless you really don't want to," Tony said, crossing his arms and shrugging, "I mean, school work is pretty important and I know that Thor isn't here, who is obviously your favorite, so I don't know," Tony took out his phone as Peter started stuttering. "Maybe I should call May and let her know her nephew wants to come home tonight."

"Oh no-no, Mr. Stark! I want to stay here tonight-" Peter started and Tony interrupted, swiping upwards on his phone, "Ah, ah, I get it, you're busy, I'll text May-"

"Tony! I'm good!" Peter said and ran up to Tony, who took his thumb off of his phone screen and looked at Peter, his eyes lighting up, "I-I was just caught off guard. I'm really happy you're back." Peter gave him a goofy grin and Tony smiled, putting his phone back into his pocket. "I just… don't want to be a problem for you," Peter said and looked down, awkwardly shuffling his feet.

Tony's smile faltered, but he put his hand on Peter's shoulder, saying, "Hey, you're never a problem for me. I'd be happy to stay in the facility tonight. You don't have any homework tonight or anything, right? You seemed pretty adamant that you did earlier." Tony smirked, and Peter blushed.

"Er, well, I don't really have anything I have to do tonight. I just didn't want you to feel responsible for me," Peter said, looking up, but not meeting Tony's eyes.

Tony sighed and dropped his other hand onto Peter's head. "I always feel responsible for you, Pete." Tony met Peter's eyes and smiled. "And it's justified. Especially in this case." Peter rolled his eyes in response, but Tony just chuckled. Tony's hand slid from Peter's curls to his cheek where it rested, and Tony met Peter's eyes. He then glanced at his eye. "Huh, would you look at that," Tony raised one eyebrow.

"What?" Peter asked and Tony put both his hands on Peter's shoulders, gently pulling him to the wall across from them, where a small mirror was hanging beside an Iron Machine suit. Tony positioned Peter in front of the mirror and smiled at their reflections. Peter looked up and his eyes widened as he looked at his eye. "There's… No bruise. My healing-"

"Your healing is working again, kid," Tony said, "Well, with the help of that tingling gel," Peter smiled at Tony's comment and turned his head to look at his mentor. Peter's smile faltered and he said, "Mr. Stark, how do I know it won't happen again?"

"What happen again?" Tony asked in response.

"My super healing no longer working! I mean, it might have just been a fluke today, but I don't want it to happen again. Especially on a mission." Peter explained and Tony, after listening to him finish, nodded and said, "Understandable. F.R.I.D.A.Y, scan Spiderman for me, please."

"Scanning Spiderman, sir," F.R.I.D.A.Y's voice came from above and Peter tried to stand as still as possible. Mr. Stark had told him before he didn't have to be still for it to work, but he wasn't going to take any chances. Tony raised his eyebrows and smirked at Peter as he stiffened, but Peter pointedly avoided his gaze.

"Scan complete, sir."

"And?"

"Spiderman has shown signs of fatigue and mental strain, due to adolescent. It appears with his height increasing and his body changing, his powers have been fluctuating." F.R.I.D.A.Y's cool voice responded.

Peter groaned. "That's seriously it? Puberty? I wanted something more cool."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Like getting an infection from an outer space weapon?"

"Yes!" Peter said excitedly.

"No!" Tony copied Peter's tone and ruffled his hair. The teenager batting his hand away as he stepped in front of Tony.

"Oh come on, being a superhero AND a teenager can suck! I just wanted something different." Peter said and crossed his arms.

Tony chuckled and patted him on the head. "Get use to it, kiddo."

Peter looked up at Tony's extended hand for a moment. A small smirk appeared on his face and he said, "F.R.I.D.A.Y also said that my height was increasing too. So enjoy this while you can Mr. Stark."

"Uh, no, you won't, Mr. Parker. I won't allow it." Tony said decidedly.

"Uh huh." Peter raised an eyebrow but a laugh escaped his mouth nonetheless.

Tony gave him a smile and patted his shoulder. "So who's the kid who beat you up?"

Peter waited a minute, and looked at his feet, as if he was considering his options. He moved his jaw around and sighed. "His name is Carl King. Big guy, never liked me,"

Tony looked up, "King, huh? FRIDAY, mark that down,"

"As you wish, boss," FRIDAY's cool voice replied from the ceiling. Peter's shoulder's stiffened and he said slowly, "what are you going to do to him?"

"Nothing too drastic," Tony said, shrugging. "Maybe just a month's suspension from school. And a broken car,"

"Oh, that's not drastic at all," Peter replied sarcastically, his body relaxing once again and Tony just chuckled.

"So, kid, how about getting to bed now?" Tony said, still smiling.

Peter said, "I'm not really that tired, Mr. Stark-" his speech was interrupted by a yawn, but he continued, "not even remotely."

Tony scoffed. "Yeah, sure. I can see those big eyes of yours drooping already, spidey."

"No, you can't."

"Can too, and don't argue with your elders." Tony flicked Peter's head and Peter wrinkled his forehead in a frown, though his body was still relaxed.

"So, you ADMIT that you're old." Peter said, grinning.

"Alright, off to bed," Tony said and pushed Peter's left shoulder with his hand, leading him towards the door. Peter laughed, but turned around again, walking towards the elevator. When he reached the door buttons, Peter paused, seeming to be in thought.

Peter turned and looked at Tony, who was a short distance from him. "Mr. Stark-Tony, would we have time tomorrow to work on the projects? And to figure out what happened with your weapons?" Peter asked, shuffling his feet slightly, fidgeting as he tried to make eye contact with his mentor.

Tony blinked, but then a smile crossed his face. "Yes, of course, Peter. I have no plans. I'll be in this building all night and all day tomorrow." Tony replied. Peter grinned again and walked quickly over to Tony, before he could stop himself. Peter put his arms around Tony's neck and pulled him to his chest. "Thank you, Mr. Stark! I have so much to show you and tell you," Peter said, his face pressed against his shoulder.

Tony hesitated, but then placed his hands around Peter, one on his shoulders, the other around his lower back. "No problem, Pete." Tony said softly, but Peter's hearing easily picked up on his comment. Peter smiled and squeezed him one last time before pulled away, happily walking to the elevator.

Peter pressed the "up" button on the elevator, and bounced on his heels, unaware of the fond look Mr. Stark was giving him from behind his back. When the ding of the elevator sounded, Peter stepped inside and turned around to face Tony before the doors closed. "Goodnight, Tony!" Peter said cheerfully, waving.

As the doors started to close, Peter saw Mr. Stark wave back, with a quiet "goodnight,". The doors slid shut with a quiet swish and Peter smiled as the elevator rose up. "Huh, maybe my spidey sense is improving." He murmured. He had seen, with his overpowered senses, what he hadn't seen since the war with Thanos. Tony's eyes softening and his demeanor relaxing.

Maybe Peter's senses were healing. And so was Tony's mental and physical state.

Peter smiled and closed his eyes as he leaned his head back against the cool metal of the elevator wall. Yeah, things were going to work out. Bullies, weapons, injuries or not, healing was happening. And he was thankful for it.

**Thank you for reading! It was a lovely story to write. ****Reviews are welcome!**

**But. **

**It's not over yet.**

**Or is it? **

**Thanks again! :)**


	5. Epilogue

2 AM.

Tony was still awake in the lab. He had sent the kid to bed about three hours ago and yet he was still working. He had been tinkering with his robot hand on his desk, and his hair, which had been laying so nicely, was now slightly askew after running his hand through it every half hour. The arm was working fine now, and the pen that the kid gave him had some parts that helped fix the stupid thing.

Tony stretched his arms over his head and glanced at his watch. 2:03. He should really be going to bed. Pepper was determined to help change his sleeping schedule, and so far, she had been succeeding when she was around. And when it was a good night.

This night had been good. Had been.

Tony was thrilled to see Peter. Even if he had gotten himself hurt by ANOTHER bully. The kid was eager to spend time with him, and he could see that. And, if Tony was honest, he wanted to spend time with him. Tony almost regretted sending the kid to bed so early. But it was for the better.

It was only recently that the mental anxiety was coming to haunt him.

"I hope the people of earth will remember you"

Tony shuddered as the deep voice came back to his mind. The titan had almost destroyed him. And he should have. But he hadn't. Thanos took the rest instead.

Thanos took the kid. He took HIS kid.

Tony sucked in a deep breathe. Yeah, Peter was his kid. Peter had wormed his way into his heart and Tony didn't regret it one bit. Maybe that's why it felt as if his heart shattered when Thanos had snapped his fingers and-

"Mr. Stark, I don't feel so good,"

"Nope!" Tony said suddenly and took another deep breath. Tony leaned over his desk, his eyes closed, trying to block out the scene in his head. Peter's okay, the gentle thought entered Tony's mind and Tony blew out a shaky breath. He's okay.

Tony ran a hand over his face, feeling his heart rate calm down. He needed to rest. He'll feel better after some sleep. He should.

He sighed and, after a moment of hesitation, turned and walked towards the elevator door. "FRIDAY, turn off the lab." Tony ordered as he pressed the elevator button.

"Of course, boss," FRIDAY's calm voice replied. The doors opened and Tony stepped on, pressing the button for the third floor. After the doors closed, Tony scratched his beard and thought for a moment. Should he change his decision? He needed to get to bed, and his bed was on the third floor but… It would ease his mind if he stopped by briefly.

Yeah, briefly. That'd be fine.

So he quickly pressed the button for the fourth floor instead.

When the ding went off, Tony stepped off and quickly turned to the left. He walked a few doors down the hall before he came to one door in particular. He hesitated for a moment, his hand hovering above the keypad next to the door, but then punched in a few buttons.

The door opened and Tony was thankful for the dimmed lights in the hallway. Peter was still asleep in bed. Tony stood in the doorway for a few moments, just looking at the twin sized bed in which Peter's form was nestled underneath the covers, appearing to be a small lump in the dark. Then Tony felt his feet moving.

He walked slowly, quietly, up to the bed, and knelt beside the head of the bed, where Peter was laying. Peter's head came up from under the covers and was laying on the red and blue pillow, about the same color of his spider suit. His curls stuck up in weird places and Peter was quietly snoring, his eyes shut and his face relaxed.

Tony smiled at the teenager. He reached out his hand and gently brushed away a few curls that had fallen in front of his face. Peter was safe. And if he could, Tony would keep him that way.

Tony stayed knelt at Peter's bed for a minute, which didn't feel long enough at all. Tony then pulled his hand back, stood up and turned to walk back to the hallway.

A tugging in his chest started and he stopped, looking down at the ground. Tony quickly turned back and before he could stop himself with his fears, he walked back to the bed and leaned down, pressing a quick kiss to Peter's forehead.

Tony then pulled back from the teen's bed and looked again at Peter's face. There was no bruise in sight. He smiled and walked out the door. As the door shut, Tony walked down the hallway, his heart already feeling lighter.

Peter was healing. And maybe, just maybe, he, Tony Stark, was healing as well.

_THE END_

**Ahhh, Thank you all so much for reading! I had so much fun writing this and releasing my feels! This is the first Fanfiction I've ever posted and I hope to write more in the future of Avengers related fanfics and as well as some other fandoms. Thank you all again for your support. 3**

**BTW, the title was based loosely off of the Tenth Avenue North song, "Healing Begins." Great song as well. :)**


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